Federal Court Denies Taser International Inc's Motion to Dismiss Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Federal Court Judge rejects Taser International’s motion to dismiss claims arising from the August 29, 2004, death of a Monterey County, California, man following repeated shocks from one of its electric weapons.

San Jose, California (PRWEB) March 10, 2006 -- United States District Court Judge Jeremy Vogel of the Northern District of California today denied Taser International’s motion to dismiss claims arising from the August 29, 2004, death of a Monterey County, California, man following repeated shocks from one of its electric weapons.

On August 29, 2004, Michael Rosa began acting erratically outside his family’s Del Rey Oaks home. A neighbor called the police, reporting his bizarre, but not criminal, behavior. Officers from several police agencies pursued Mr. Rosa through the neighborhood. At least two police officers used their Taser electric weapons repeatedly as other officers restrained Rosa on the ground. Rosa stopped breathing, and then died shortly thereafter.

In the lawsuit, Rosa v. City of Seaside, N.D. Cal. Case No. C 05-03577 JF , Rosa’s parents and his teen-age daughter alleged that Taser electric shock weapons are unreasonably dangerous and defective for use on human beings because they are sold without warning about the effect of multiple shocks, the danger of shocking people who are under the influence of drugs, and the effects of Taser shocks on respiration. The weapon, when used repeatedly and in combination with aggressive police restraints, causes unnecessary deaths.

Taser International, Inc., asked the district court to dismiss the claims of the Rosa family, contending that (1) Michael Rosa’s death was not reasonably foreseeable, (2) its product is not inherently dangerous, and (3) it had no duty to warn of the dangers of its product.

In denying Taser International’s Motion to Dismiss, Judge Fogel ruled that Taser has a duty to design and manufacture its products to avoid foreseeable dangers arising from their use, and to warn its customers and users of any foreseeable dangers that could arise when people such as Michael Rosa are shocked repeatedly and then subjected to aggressive restraint procedures.    Taser International has been ordered to respond to plaintiffs’ complaint.

There is no trial date set.

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